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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

STARTING A NEW PROJECT

Today I'm starting a wall hanging for my daughter. She selected the pattern, a Pat Sloan applique. The finished quilt will hang on a quilt hanger that my oldest son made for her the one year we drew names and required home-made gifts for Christmas. She was one of the lucky ones, receiving a lovely hand-made quilt rack. Don't ask me why we no longer require home-made, LOL!

Since I took the Process Pledge (see the left of my blog) I decided to make a tutorial of how I do fusible applique. It's probably a combination of many ways. I've just selected and kept what works for me through the years. I'm no expert. Just offering what works for me, and isn't it nice we have choices???

These are the fabrics I'll be selecting from. Except for that bright green. I'm not sure how she jumped into this picture--shameless show off! The center fabric is the focus, and will be the flower pot and the wide border. The other colors I drew from that. My friend Carol found the focus and helped me pick the others. She said that if DD doesn't like the end result, she'll take it, LOL!

First things first. Today I'm tracing the patterns onto Lite Steam-a-Seam2. It's my favorite fusible. You can put the appliques in place and sick them down, but still pick them up and move them if you decide you want/need to (almost like moving a sticky note). It's the lightest version, and doesn't gum your needle. My pattern is symmetrical, so there's no need to reverse them. But if you want your pattern to face the same way as pictured, generally you need to reverse them for fusible applique (like if you want the bird facing as shown and not the opposite, etc.).

I cut them out about 1/4" outside the drawn line. It doesn't have to be exact or anything. Just cut. Then I'm removing most of the interior. The centers don't need to be fused, and even though I'm using a light stabilizer, the fabric will be less stiff with the center gone. This too is cut at about 1/4" inside the line, but not exact, and where the pieces are tiny, I just leave it.

I've always wanted to do this...but I'm not a sewer by any means and I always chicken out. Look forward to seeing this tutorial take shape. Thanks for sharing. Also...I love a home-made Christmas...it comes from the heart!

Dear I play.........., Your commonet came thru as no reply so I couldn't email you privately. But, if you'd like an email every time I post, I can do that if you'll send me your email addy. Mine is at the top of my blog.

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About Me

My priorities are Faith, Family, Friends.
My hobbies include playing with grands, stitching, walking with DH (especially on a beach or in nature), reading, blogging, and keeping up with my in-person and on-line fiends.